Mexico Names 18-Player Roster to Face USA on Sept. 3 at RFK Stadium

The USA's Rachel Buehler and Mexico's Monica Ocampo will meet for both club and country this year

Mexico Women’s National Team head coach Leonardo Cuellar has named 18 players to face the United States on Sept. 3 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

Nine players on the roster come from NWSL clubs, including Renae Cuellar of the Seattle Reign who is already playing for Sundsvall in Sweden. Cuellar scored five goals for F.C. Kansas City before being traded to the Reign, for whom she did not score.

Both goalkeepers, Cecilia Santiago and Pamela Tajonar, were back-ups in the league for the Boston Breakers and Western New York Flash, respectively, but several attacking players had quality seasons including Monica Ocampo of Sky Blue FC, who finished tired third in the league in scoring with eight goals and was named NWSL Player of the Month for August.

The 26-year-old Ocampo scored three times in three games during August, including the game-winning goal against the Washington Spirit in a 1-0 victory on Aug. 3. She also scored twice in a 3-3 draw against the Chicago Red Stars on Aug. 10 and took the corner kick that led to the game-tying goal in a 1-1 draw with the Spirit on Aug. 18. Her eight goals on the season, which were a team-best for Sky Blue, came in 901 minutes of action.

Cuellar also named four players currently enter their U.S. college seasons in Bianca Sierra from Auburn, Christina Murillo from Michigan, Arianne Romero from Nebraska and Sofia Huerta from Santa Clara, who led Mexico in scoring with three goals at the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan.

Six players on the roster, including the above four collegians, Santiago and Sky Blue FC midfielder Nayeli Rangel, were a part of that Mexican U-20 team that made finished second in their group and advance to the Quarterfinal, where it lost to Nigeria 1-0 in overtime. At the U-20 World Cup, Mexico lost to Japan 4-1, defeated Switzerland 2-0 and pounded New Zealand 4-0.

Also on the roster is Mexico’s greatest ever player, Maribel Dominguez of the Chicago Red Stars. The 34-year-old forward scored twice for Chicago this year, but has an amazing 74 goals in her 114 career international caps. Dominguez played in the first U.S. pro league, the WUSA, for the Atlanta Beat and also spent some time with Barcelona in Spain, where Mexican defender Kenti Robles currently plays.